Break the Silence (Detectives Kane and Alton)

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“When there’s an autopsy, we come to observe.” Emily smiled at Jenna. “I hear you saved Owen Jones from the rapids.”

Jenna shot a look at Kane as he stepped into the room behind her. “Did you have to tell everyone?”

“I never said a word, Jenna, but it’s in my report.” Kane looked abashed. “A good deal of college kids were there; I’m sure they couldn’t wait to spread the news.”

“It wasn’t Kane.” Emily frowned. “Everyone is talking about it, calling you Aquawoman and how you plunged in boots and all.”

Jenna cast a glance at Kane. “Kane was there too, and if we hadn’t gotten to Jones in time, he’d be here waiting for an autopsy.” She frowned. “Can I have a word in private?”

“Sure.” Wolfe led the way into the hallway and pulled down his mask. “What’s up?”

Jenna explained the interest Seth Lyons had shown in Emily and the potential of her becoming his next rape victim, and then she waited with bated breath for his reaction.

“I’ll talk to her.” Wolfe’s gray eyes held a flicker of worry and then it vanished and he smiled at her. “Thanks for letting me know, and don’t worry—it’s highly unlikely Emily would place herself in that position. She’s aware of the Lowe case and this piece of information will keep her well away from anyone on the football team.”

“And she has Webber in some of her classes to keep an eye on her.” Jenna looked up at him. “Although, being undercover, I wouldn’t encourage her to hang out with him anymore.”

“I told her to keep her distance.” Wolfe grimaced. “Anyway, she’s more interested in college seniors at the moment.” He shook his head in dismay. “She turns nineteen soon, it’s a worry.”

Jenna squeezed his arm. “I wouldn’t worry too much. When any potential boyfriends lay eyes on you, they’ll behave themselves.” She waved a hand toward the door. “I guess we’d better get back to it.” She led the way inside.

“Okay, are we all ready?” Wolfe followed her, went to the gurney and switched on the examination light, spreading a bright beam over the inert body. He turned on his recorder, made all the necessary references for the official recording of his findings, and then pulled down the sheet. “Let’s get started.”

Jenna breathed through her mouth to avoid the stench of decomposing flesh. The way Pete Devon had died intrigued her. “What is it about drowning cases that makes them so difficult to determine COD?”

“It’s not so hard to determine drowning, it’s proving if a person was murdered by drowning.” Wolfe’s eyes met hers over the body. “We found Pete Devon submerged in water, his skin is wrinkled, and the amount of damage to the epidermis is a good indication of submergence for several hours.” He indicated toward the skin on the hands and feet. “The diatom test I conducted yesterday on the sample of bone marrow extracted from the femur shows the same five algae present in the victim as in the pool water. So from that test, we know he drowned in the pool where we found him. This is more accurate than testing the water extracted from the lungs, but that was also a match.”

Jenna moved closer. “So why is the cause of death so hard to determine if every result indicates drowning?”

“Emily, can you explain?” Wolfe took clippers and removed a section of Pete Devon’s hair from the crown of his head.

“We know he drowned.” Emily’s eyes danced with enthusiasm over her face mask. “What we need to determine is if he slipped and fell or if someone murdered him. Dad is considering the latter but we need to prove it. He already pointed out the marks on the victim’s ankles at the scene but now they are more pronounced.” She moved to the end of the gurney and lifted one foot. “See here, the half-moon marks on each ankle? Dad said he mentioned them at the scene.” She placed her hand around the pale ankle. “As if a larger hand than mine held on so tight they dug their nails into his flesh.” She lifted the other foot for Jenna and Kane to examine. “Try your hand, Dave, and see if it’s a closer fit.”

Jenna stared in amazement as Kane lifted the leg then slipped one gloved hand around the ankle. His hands overlapped the nail marks. “So not as big as Kane’s but close, so we’d assume a man?”

“With hands almost as big as mine, I’d say so.” Kane replaced the leg on the gurney. “And from the positions of the nail marks, Devon was attacked from behind.”

“Yes, or dragged off a woman by one of his friends.” Wolfe cleared his throat. “If the damage was caused in the pool, I’d assume this man has considerable strength too.” Wolfe turned his attention back to Jenna. “You’d figure attacking someone in water would be easy, but it takes quite an effort to pull someone down a ladder submerged in water.” He touched Devon’s nose. “This damage was caused by a sharp downward movement. The killer must have been in the water behind him, grabbed his ankles, and pulled.” He looked over at Webber. “Why would I come to that conclusion, Webber?”

“If someone slipped on a ladder, they’d likely graze their shins or fall back into the water.” Webber held out both his arms. “Climbing up a ladder out of the water, they’d be angled back not forward.”

It didn’t bother Jenna that Wolfe was making the autopsy a class for his interns and she was surprised at their knowledge. “So when the steps struck Devon and knocked him unconscious, he drowned?”

“I doubt it. Made him dizzy, yeah, but that doesn’t look like enough damage to knock him out.” Kane leaned forward and examined the body. “The impact hasn’t pushed the nasal bones into the brain but it would’ve hurt like hell.”

“This is why we don’t jump to conclusions and search for the whole story. The fall could’ve easily rendered him unconscious.” Wolfe waved Jenna to his side of the gurney. “During my initial examination, I noticed a discoloration of the scalp. As you can see, there is a distinct mark on the top of the head. I’ll be opening the cranium later to determine the extent of the bruising, but at this stage I’d rule out a weapon. From the size of the injury, it’s possible it was caused by a fist coming down from above.” He re-enacted how a punch would come from above with force. “I’ve seen similar injuries in men killed in combat.”

“I’ve seen similar injuries caused during football, even with a helmet.” Webber shrugged. “He could’ve been injured in a tackle and not reported it to the coach.”

Jenna flicked a glance at Kane. “If not a football injury, who are we looking at here? Someone trained in martial arts or hand-to-hand combat, boxing?”

“Yeah.” Kane nodded. “A punch like that would subdue him.”

“More than that.” Wolfe turned to her. “Consider Devon is hurt, he’s underwater, and no doubt disoriented and trying to get to the surface. The moment the top of his head breaks the surface, wham, someone lands one hell of a punch on his head. The first thing he’d do is gasp, and once water is in the lungs, it’s over. He might have tried to fight back but his lungs would be bursting. Water is painful when it enters the lungs. He can’t breathe, has no oxygen going to his brain. His body would be going into spasms and death follows pretty quickly.”

Jenna leaned back on one of the counters. “So, suspected homicide?”